16/09/2025
Mid-September! You know what that means? A late Edinburgh Fringe dump! I loved doing a short run of WIPs with Monkey Barrel, it was such a treat to get to play around with new material and take risks in front of fun, attentive and - crucially - forgiving audiences.
I also got to see wonderful shows from Pierre Novellie (4th year in a row of tight, sophisticated, impeccable observational stand-up: a stunning stakhanovite), Bella Hull (brilliant self-aware ego-maniacal madness culminating in an A+ ending), Simple Town (their "firing squad executing politically imprecise man" sketch maybe the most I've laughed all year?), Janine Harouni (wonderful gags that come thick and fast, tied together with insights on motherhood that really moved me), Christopher MacArthur-Boyd (a swiss-army knife of comedy who seems to be able to do tight gags, satire, darkness, surrealism, impressions and whimsy, properly blew me away), Sam Nicoresti (smart, funny, as well as a real tenderness - also "Being John Malkoviching JK Rowling's transphobia" brilliant fringe standup highlight), (multimedia madness and hilarious self-lasceration, somehow continually one-upping his show's conceit as the hour progresses) David O'Doherty (perfect final night tonic from the Edinburgh King, plus a strong bike giveaway) and Ivo Graham ([orange] crushed it, is there a better selector of words in the biz?!). I also caught (precision smart stuff from the master surrealist) and (brilliant climate theatre and cracking jokes while communicating nuanced points with hope amidst ecological bleakness).
However, the spirit of the fringe was the deep fried potato ice cream I had for desert at . Hoping for a Soho theatre transfer.
